Two Weddings and a Funeral
by dramaqueen
Summary: An old friends death is just the start of some big changes in the lives of the scoobies. (Set in the begining of season 5)
1. Prologue

****

Two Weddings and a Funeral

By Dramaqueen 

Prologue

Jonathon Levenson sat in the darkness of his room, clutching his head in an attempt to stop the searing pain. Earlier that day, he had been called into the hospital to get the results of a biopsy he had had on a tumour that they had found on his brain. 

"I'm afraid to tell you that the tumour is in fact cancerous…cancerous…cancerous." The words of the doctor echoed in Jonathon's mind as he bit his lip in the vain hope that it would ease the intense pain shooting throughout his head. Then, remembering the bottle of painkillers in his draw, he pulled them out and stumbled downstairs to the kitchen to get a glass of water. 

Half an hour later when the painkillers had kicked in, Jonathon decided that he should call Giles and the others and tell them the results, as he knew that they had all been worrying about them almost as much as he and his parents had.

It wasn't until an hour after Jonathon had called that everyone had finally gathered at Giles' apartment.

"Right. Now that we're all here." Rupert Giles looked at the six young faces of the three happy couples in front of him and wished he had never offered to tell them all about Jonathon's results for him. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. As much as knew it would be cruel to make the 18-year-old repeatedly tell his friends that he was dying, now that it came down to it, the forty-something Englishman just couldn't find the words to break the news with.

"As some of you may know, Jonathon got the results of his biopsy today. Well, he phoned me earlier, and I'm afraid it's bad news." Giles told the group sorrowfully, secretly glad that it would be obvious what this bad news was.

"He's got cancer." Buffy Summers said quietly as the group sat there in shocked silence. 

"Do we know how long he's got?" Buffy's boyfriend Riley Finn asked as he wrapped his arms even more tightly around his girlfriend.

"They think around two-three months." Giles told them.

Everyone sat in silence as the reality of it all sank in. Riley held Buffy tightly to him, Anya rested her head on her boyfriend Xander Harris's shoulder as he put his arm around her, and Tara gripped her girlfriend Willow Rosenberg's hand. Sure, people died all the time in Sunnydale, after all it was on the Hellmouth, but usually they could fight the 'things' that caused so many deaths. Not now though. This was out of their control.

"I'm just going for a walk mom!" Jonathon called out as he grabbed his jacket. 

After spending the whole of the last week hanging around the house, thinking about the unfairness of it all, Jonathon had finally decided to get out and get on with the rest of however much of his life he had left. 

"Are you sure you want to go out? What if you get one of your headaches?" His mom asked, coming out of the lounge with a worried expression on her face. 

"Look, I took a couple of painkillers half an hour ago and I doubt it'll ware off within an hour. Okay mom?" 

"Okay sweetie." She said, hugging her son as he went to open the door.

"Bye." He said, stepping out the door and shutting it before his mom could make any more of a fuss.

"The sun really does seem bright when you've been in doors for ages." Jonathon muttered to himself as he walked down the street. 

It was 2 o'clock on a Monday, so there was hardly anyone around. At first Jonathon was grateful for the quiet, but after about quarter of an hour he wished he wasn't the only person around. He had suddenly been overcome by a pain like no-other, searing through his skull. He looked around frantically for someone, anyone who could help him get home. As he turned and started to head home on his own, his vision became blurry, and the pain grew.

As he stumbled along, he felt himself getting weaker. Then, what shapes he could see went black, and he fell to the ground.

"You still haven't told them? Will!" Buffy asked her best friend Willow incredulously. 

"Well I don't see them that often." Willow said in an attempt to justify the situation.

"You were at home on Saturday." Buffy pointed out.

"Yeah, well, it's not exactly something you can say over dinner. 'Can you pass the salt dad? Oh, and by the way I'm gay!' They're still getting over me and Oz splitting up."

"That was six months ago!"

"Try telling my parents that!" 

Willow had been broken hearted when her long-term boyfriend Daniel 'Oz' Osbourn had left her. She knew that he did it to protect her from the werewolf inside of him, but it had still hurt immensely. Then she met Tara. At first they were just friends, meeting up about once a week to cast spells together. But, as time went on, the pair grew closer together, and Willow realised that it was Tara who had helped her to get her life back on track. 

Ironically, it was Oz coming back to Sunnydale that made Willow realise that her love for Tara was not the friendship type of love she had thought it to be.

"Ya think they'd mind if I told them over the phone?" Willow asked hopefully.

"Probably. But they'd mind even more if they found out from someone else. Besides, I don't think your parents are the type to be bothered about you being gay." Buffy reassured her friend.

"So I can call them?" Willow asked happily as they came to their dorm.

"You can call them." Buffy said as she pulled her keys from her bag.

"Thank you! Ooh message." Willow said as she entered the dorm and saw the little red light flashing on their answer phone. She went over and pressed play.

"Buffy. Willow. It's Giles. Call me as soon as you get this message." Came the urgent sounding voice of Buffy's ex-watcher over the answer phone.

The girls looked at each other. Buffy stopped the tape, picked up the phone and dialled Giles's number. 

"Giles, it's me. We just got your message. What's wrong……What!?…… Do you want me to get Willow on the phone?…… Okay. Bye." 

"What did Giles want?" Willow asked as Buffy hung up the phone.

"It's Jonathon. He's dead."


	2. Part One

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Two Weddings and a Funeral

By Dramaqueen 

Part 1

"You know it's strange. We went to high school with the guy, but we were never actually friends with him till we left." Willow said to her friends. 

"And now he's gone." Buffy added quietly.

After they, along with the others, had gotten back from Jonathon's funeral, they had spent the best part of an hour talking about their memories of him. Admittedly, they didn't have that many, and it was the pauses in between that had taken up so much time. Still, it seemed somehow right to discuss their fond memories of him so soon after his funeral.

Just then the front door opened. Everyone turned to see a tall, thin man with pale skin and peroxide blonde hair.

"What are you doing here?" Giles asked the new arrival. 

"Isn't a man allowed to visit friends when they come back from a funeral?" The man asked in an English accent.

"They are. But firstly, we're not your friends. And secondly, you're not, in the strictest sense, a man." Giles pointed out. 

"Firstly, we're not exactly enemies since I got this chip in my head are we? And secondly, I may be a vampire, but I'm not a woman." The 'man' said as he went and perched on the edge of the couch.

"What are you really doing here Spike?" Xander asked huffily.

"Honestly? I'm bored as hell." Spike admitted.

"You're bored?" Buffy queried suspiciously.

"Well I'm not exactly gonna come see you lot when I've got something better to do am I?" 

"Well seeing as this is the fifth time you've come over in two weeks, you mustn't have much to do lately." Giles said as he cleaned his glasses.

"As it happens, I don't. You see since I got this chip in my head and started hurting demons, I haven't been too popular amongst my old crowd." Spike told them.

"That's nice. Are you still taking me out tomorrow?" Anya asked, turning to Xander.

"Er…honey. Do you really think this is the time?" Xander asked his girlfriend.

"Well I was going to ask you earlier, but I remembered that when you first mentioned you were going to take me out, you said not to bring it up at the funeral." Anya reminded him.

"I think he probably meant don't mention it at all today." Willow guessed.

"Yes. But I'm excited. He's going to ask me to marry him!" Anya announced happily.

"What?!" Everyone asked, looking directly at Xander.

"No I'm not!" He exclaimed nervously.

"Yes you are. I saw the ring." Anya told him.

Xander covered his face with his hands, and sank down in the couch, while Anya crossed her arms triumphantly as she realised that she had been right in her presumption about the ring.

"You know, I think that we should all go for a walk. Go to the park where Jonathon died and pay our respects." Giles suggested, knowing that Xander and Anya needed some alone time.

"Good idea. I'll just get mine and Buffy's jacket." Said Riley, getting the hint.

"Stuff that. I barely knew the late John boy. I think I'll stay here and see how pizza boy gets out of this one." Said Spike, also getting Giles's hint. Just not going along with it. 

"You know I think I might have a stake in bag." Said Buffy, looking pointedly at Spike.

"You wouldn't!" Spike stated, fear apparent in his voice.

"Oh I would." Buffy said, reaching for her purse.

This time Spike went along with the hint, and a few minutes later Xander and Anya were alone in Giles's apartment.

"So…where do you think you saw this ring?" Xander asked.

""I _know _that I saw it in a box when I was helping you move into your knew apartment." Informed Anya.

"You mean you saw a jewellery box." 

"No. Well, yes. I saw a jewellery box in one of the packing boxes." 

"But you didn't see an actual ring. I mean you couldn't have." Xander panicked.

"Yes I could. I opened the box. And before you ask how I knew it was for me, the answer is, as a vengeance demon I granted quite a few wishes to heartbroken women, dumped by their fiancées. And they had rings. " 

"But…but…okay! The ring you saw is an engagement ring for you. There's no point pretending it's not. It's just, I wanted my proposal to be special, you know?" He asked her, leaning closer to Anya. 

"I get that. But surely what matters is that I say yes? Well, that and the ring." Anya smiled as she too leaned in closer.

"Is that your way of seeing yes?" Xander asked cautiously.

"Is that your way of proposing?" Anya returned.

"You do know I don't have the ring with me don't you?'

"I know. I have it." Anya reached into her back pocket and produced a midnight blue velvet box. "I found it in your draw when you were in the bathroom this morning. I thought, you never know, we might need it."

"You planned this whole thing didn't you?" Xander asked, trying to sound annoyed but unable to help himself from smiling.

"Kind of. I knew I was gonna mention it, Giles getting everyone to leave was just an expected bonus." Anya smiled and handed Xander the box.

"Oh God. Right. Here goes." Xander got of the couch and knelt in front of Anya on one knee. There was a brief pause. 

"Anya." He said, opening the box to reveal a thin gold band with a small, circular diamond in the centre.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes!" Anya declared sincerely.

Xander took the ring from the box (which he put on the floor,) and put it on Anya's finger. They then stood up and embraced.


	3. Part Two

****

Two Weddings and a Funeral

By Dramaqueen 

Part 2

"I don't really like churches that much. You know, 'cause of the whole I used to be a demon thing. So, anyway, I think I'm gonna have a beach wedding." Anya rambled on excitedly. "If I do, then the bridesmaids will probably be wearing those wrap around things, probably in pale blue. I'm not sure what top…"

"Anya!" Buffy turned around to face her friend's fiancée 

"What?! It's customary for the future bride to go on about her wedding in the weeks before it. Even I know that!" Anya said, folding her arms huffily.

"That maybe, but it's not the weeks before your wedding. It's two weeks after you got engaged." Buffy reminded her. 

"Yes, well, it could be the weeks before the wedding. I've already told Xander I want it to be as soon as possible. I mean it's not as if I've got any family to invite." Anya said as Buffy absent-mindedly staked a vampire that was sneaking up behind her.

"That must be tough huh? The happiest day of your life and no-one to sure it with." Buffy said sympathetically as they started walking across the cemetery.

"No! It's my day. Not anyone else's."

"Er…groom standing right here." Xander spoke up from just behind Anya.

"We know." Anya turned around to face her boyfriend. "I just meant that the weddings only a big deal for the bride. I.e. me." 

"Not meaning to burst your bubble here Anya, but this wedding is as much a deal for me as for you. I just don't go on about it twenty-four seven."

"Whatever. Can we back to the apartment now?"

"We've been through this. Until we know what's wrong with Buffy's mom, and she gets well again, Buffy can't go patrolling on her own."

"Why? Her mom doesn't go on patrol with her."

"I know that. But her sister has a habit of sneaking out whenever she can, and with Joyce sleeping a lot lately, it makes it easier for Dawn to go wandering around town at night."

"So? The girl's fourteen years old. She can fend for her self. I did when I was her age."

"Anya, when you were her age people lived in huts and America was non-existent to the rest of the world."

"I still don't get why Buffy can't patrol on her own."

"Because she can't exactly call off patrolling each time she finds Dawn wandering about, but she isn't about to let her little sister walk the streets of Sunnydale 'built on the Hellmouth' California on her own, at night."

"Which is why you two are now going to head back to my house without me." Buffy told Anya and Xander as she looked across the street from the cemetery that they had just left, and saw her irritating younger sibling. 

"Dawn!" Buffy yelled as her and the others ran across the where the teenager was. 

Prepared to lecture the girl on how dangerous it was for her to be out on her own at night, (especially when you considered that if Buffy hadn't spotted her, no one would know where she was, and that Sunnydale was full of 'things that go bump in the night'.) Buffy was taken aback to see her sisters puffy eyes and tear streaked face.

She put her hands on Dawn's shoulders and stared into her face.

"What's wrong? Has anything happened to mom?" She asked, panic-stricken that her mom had collapsed again.

The only response Dawn could muster was to burst into tears and throw her arms around her sister's waist.

Buffy wrapped her arms around Dawn and said, "Look, if something's wrong with mom we really should go home."

Dawn looked up and shook her head. "Can we go to the Espresso Pump?" She asked through her sobs.

"Sure. Can you two hold the patrolling fort for ten minutes for me?" Buffy asked, looking up at Anya and Xander.

"No!" Anya declared, at the exact same time as Xander said "Of course. It's been pretty quiet tonight anyway." 

"Thanks. I'll try not to be too long." Buffy said to Xander, handing him the small rucksack full of stakes, crosses and holy-water that she'd brought along.

Anya punched Xander in the arm as Buffy and Dawn headed down the street.

Once they'd sat down at a little table with two de-cafe lattes, Dawn took a couple of deep breaths as she got ready to tell her sister what had made her run out of their house in floods of tears half an hour earlier.

"The phone rang and I answered because, you know, mom's ill. So anyway, I get the phone and it's Giles, so I tell him that you're not in, and he says that that's okay 'cause he called o talk to mom." Dawn paused as she drank some of her latte. 

"So I told mom that the call was for her, and told me to tell them she'd call them back. But then, as I was going to the phone, mom asked me it actually was, and I told her, and she, like, leapt up and grabbed the phone. Then she sent me out of the room."

"Is this going anywhere?" Buffy interrupted.

"Yes. Where was I? Oh yeah, so mom's sent me out of the room, which is weird coz she's talking to Giles. Anyway, at first I'm good and stay out of the way, but then I here mom saying "I will tell them soon, but it's difficult. Especially when I think about how much Dawn cried when her father left." So of course I'm now totally suspicious and go to the kitchen door so I can find out what mom's on about. And I then hear mom tell Giles that of course she still wants to marry him!"

"What!?" Buffy asked in shock.

"That's what I said, only mom heard me and told Giles that she'd call him back and hung up. Then she goes to me, "You shouldn't have been listening in, but I suppose you do have the right to know. Giles and I are getting married."!"


	4. Part Three

** **

Part 3

"No mom, I wasn't just pretending to love Oz. I really did love him." Willow said into the phone.

"Well then why aren't you dating another nice boy?" Her mom asked from the other end of the line.

"Because I didn't fall in-love with 'another nice boy'! I fell in-love with Tara!" Willow lay down on the bed that she was sitting on.

"What about your friend Alexander? You always used to like him a lot. Maybe you just think you're in-love with this girl because Alex is dating Amy."

"It's Xander and Anya. And I haven't liked him the way you think I do since I was seventeen! Why can't you just except that I have a girlfriend rather than a boyfriend now?"

"Look honey, I think we should talk about this in person. How about you join your father and I for dinner tomorrow night? I can make pasta." Her mom offered.

"Can Tara come?"

"I think it'll be best if she didn't. Maybe another time though."

"I'll be there around seven. Bye mom."

"Bye honey. See you tomorrow."

Willow hung the phone up and walked over to where she had a photograph of her and Tara. She took the picture frame in one hand, and used the other to tenderly stroke a finger over Tara's image. 

__

"When did everything get so complicated and confusing?" She wondered, sitting back on her bed with the photo still in hand.

__

"A year ago I was dating Oz. Sure, he was a werewolf, but we were in-love. Just as Tara and me are now. Only, Oz and I were allowed to be together." Willow tried not to let herself cry, but she couldn't help it. It was all so unfair! The not knowing was the worst part. Not knowing if she'd fallen for Tara because of some repressed sexuality thing. Or because of Tara as a person. After all, it wasn't as if whenever she saw a movie she found herself attracted to the actresses rather than the actors. And when she had first heard Giles singing a while back, she had found it to be quite sexy and even been reminded of the crush that she had had on him when they had first met. 

"Why can't this be over? Why can't Tara and I just be together without worrying about people judging us? There has to be someone who understands what I'm going through." Willow thought. Then, realizing there was someone who could give her some advice. Willow put the photo back on the side and dug around in a draw until she found her address book. 

Going back over to the phone, Willow flicked through the little book before picking up the handset and dialed a number. 

"Cordelia? It's Willow."

"Mom! Mom!" Buffy yelled out for her mom as Dawn followed her into the house.

"I'm in here Buffy. Is your sister with you?" Joyce called from the lounge.

Buffy and Dawn entered the living room and stood in front of their mom, glaring at her.

"Dawn! I know I upset you, but you shouldn't have run off like that." Joyce scolded her youngest daughter.

"I had a right to be upset. My mom's decided she's going to get married to someone we didn't even know she was dating!" Dawn practically yelled, on the verge of tears.

"I never thought I'd say this mom, but Dawn's right. How could you do this? I'm mean, I know you two had sex when you were reliving your teenage years, but since when were you an item?" Buffy asked angrily.

"You and Giles had sex!" Dawn, clearly grossed out, interrupted her mom before she could even start to reply to her sister.

"Yes, we did. Not that my private life is any of either of your business's."

"It is our business when you decide we're going to have step-father, especially when he's, like, my friend!" Buffy declared, tears filling her own eyes now.

"Look, we're not going to get anywhere like this, so why don't you two sit down and let me explain the situation?" Joyce suggested. Slightly reluctantly, the sisters sat down next to their mom and listened.

"About two years ago, when Buffy was a senior, Giles and I were seeing each other. Then, when his old girlfriend Olivia turned up in Sunnydale last year, all of his old feelings for her came flooding back, and because we didn't consider ourselves to be an item as such, he got back with her. A few months ago however, Giles invited mer over to dinner and told me that he and Olivia had decided their long distance relationship wasn't working, and split up." Joyce told her daughters.

"So Giles stopped dating Olivia. What's that got with anything except that the two of you hurt one less person?" Dawn jabbed angrily.

"It has to do with Rupert and I because it was Olivia who had pointed out to him his feelings for me." Joyce said.

"Huh!?" Buffy and Dawn asked their mom in unison.

"Olivia new about mine and Rupert's relationship, and apparently he told her a lot about me. So, when they split up, Olivia told Rupert that it was obvious to her it was me he was in love with." She explained.

"You've been engaged for months without telling us?" Buffy asked, trying to hide how upset the situation made her.

"Of course not. We got engaged a few days ago. There is something else I should tell you though. About the wedding."

"Please don't say you're pregnant." Dawn practically begged.

"No, I'm not pregnant." Joyce reassured Dawn.

"Then what is it?" 

"The date of the wedding. It's next week."


	5. Part Four

  
Part 4   
  
Not quite knowing what she was doing there, Willow surveyed the list of tenants that was situated next to a column of white buttons near the door to the apartment building. Finding the button labeled 'A. Harris',  
she pressed it and waited for the reply.  
"Leave me alone Spike." Came Xander's voice over the fuzzy intercom.  
"It's me, Willow. Can I come up?" she asked her best friend.   
"Sure you can. I'll just buzz you in." After a few seconds there was a faint buzzing noise, and Willow was able to open the door and walk up to Xander's apartment.  
"Hay there Will. Sorry for thinking you were Spike back there." Xander apologized once Willow had arrived in his apartment.  
"You're forgiven. What was with that anyway?" Willow asked as she took a seat next to Xander on his soft white couch.  
"This place is just a couple of minutes from Willie's bar, so whenever Spike is chased from there by a couple of angry demons he comes here and practically begs me to let him in. The funniest part's when he goes all mad and threatens to get Harmony to beat me up." Xander explained lightly.  
"What a terrifying threat that must be." Willow joked, then she added, "Er... Xander, do you have any ice-cream? I kind of need some right now."  
"Sure. Is chocolate chip ok?" He asked as he stood up and headed over to the kitchen.  
"Chocolate chip sounds great. Isn't this supposed to be the part where you ask me what I'm doing here at midnight demanding ice-cream?" She asked, just as Xander returned to the couch with a tub of chocolate chip and two spoons.  
"Well I don't have to ask why you're here so late, as you knew I was helping Buffy patrol and wouldn't be back till at least eleven. Though I have to admit that the ice-cream does suggest that you weren't 'just passing'." Xander looked caringly at Willow.  
As the two friends ate the ice-cream straight from the tub, Willow told Xander all about her phone conversation with her mom, and how she had to go home for dinner the following night.  
"No wonder you seem so nervous. Do you think your mom's going to tell your dad, or wait for you to do it?" Xander asked once Willow had finished.  
"I don't know. Either way I know it's going to be nerve racking, though I have to admit that speaking to Cordelia helped."  
"You'll be fi... when did you speak to Cordelia?"  
"After I got off the phone with mom. I needed to talk to someone who knew how tough it was to be judged just because of who you go out with."   
"You guys judged me for going out with Cordy just as much as the Cordettes judged her for going out with me." Xander reminded Willow as they finished off the ice-cream and put the spoons in the tub, which they had placed on the coffee table.  
"I remember. But I also remember that you became the envy of every guy in school. Whereas the only girl who envied Cordy was me, and if you haven't forgotten, that's what led to you guys splitting up." Willow pointed out, referring to when her and Xander strayed from Oz and Cordelia to (temporarily) become more than just friends.   
"I see your point. How did Queen C react to your news anyway?"  
"Naturally she was shocked at first, but after about a minute she yelled out 'Angel, Westly, Willow's gay!', and then asked me if gay women found her as attractive as straight men do."  
"Sounds just like her. What did you say?"  
"Of course we do. Then before she could ask if I had a crush on her I asked her for advice on how to deal with people's reactions to me and Tara."  
"Do you? ...I mean, what did she say?"  
"No I don't, and she said that at the end of the day, if my friends are going to disown me for going out with Tara then they're not worth it anyway, and that it doesn't actually matter what anyone else thinks."   
"She's right you know. Also, it may help you to tell me all the details of your relationship with Tara, so you can figure out what to say to parents I mean." Xander suggested playfully.  
"I don't think so some how."  
"And why ever not?"  
"Because, Alexander Harris, when you say 'relationship' what you really mean is 'sex life'."  
"I still think it might be good for you to talk to someone about it, and I'm listening."  
"And what makes you so sure that I really do need someone to speak to?"  
"Well, when you go through something as major as..." Xander saw the 'do-you-think-I'm-stupid-enough-to-fall-for-that?' look on Willow's face and shut up.   
As Xander cleared away the empty ice-cream tub, Willow looked over her shoulder at the clock on the wall.  
"It's almost one. I should be getting home." She told him as he came back to the couch.  
"Why don't you crash here? After all, it's so late it's early and you look kind of beat."  
"Thanks, but Tara will just worry if I'm not back when she gets up tomorrow, and if I phone I'll just wake her up."  
"Well at least let me drive you back. The streets of Sunnydale aren't exactly the safest in the world, especially when it's dark."  
Taking Xander up on his offer, Willow helped him to look for his car keys. Once they'd found them, they headed out of the apartment and down the stairs that led to the small lobby.   
As they walked out of the building and on to the street, they saw Riley walking towards them, his arm wrapped around a sobbing Buffy. Xander and Willow immediately ran to their friends.  
"What's wrong? What happened?" They asked in unison when they had gotten to Buffy and Riley.  
"It's her mom. Her and Giles are getting married in a week." Riley explained. Then, he added, "What's more, Rupert and Joyce are thinking of moving to England."  



	6. Part Five

Part 5  
  
Anya and Tara sat in Xander's apartment, listening to him and Willow inform them about Joyce and Giles's plans to get married that coming Saturday, and to then move to England, taking Dawn with them.  
  
"How can they be so selfish?" Anya asked with distaste after a brief silence. Xander moved to sit next to his girlfriend before saying, "I know it's a shock, but what we really need to be now is there for Buffy and Dawn."  
"Huh?" Anya looked at her boyfriend with confusion.  
"Well you just said..." Xander started, but Anya interrupted him before he could finish.  
"I meant they were selfish for taking the attention away from me."  
Now it was the turn of everyone else in the room to go; "Huh?"  
"For the past couple of days everyone's been preoccupied thinking about my wedding, but now you're all going to be paying attention to Joyce because her's is sooner." Anya explained to the small group.  
"If it helps to ease your, um, pain, I haven't thought about your wedding." Tara offered. Anya glared at her.  
Before anyone could say anything else, the phone rang. Xander walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver.  
"Hello?......I'm Alexander Harris......What?......er, will you just excuse me for one moment please?" Xander placed the receiver next to the telephone cradle and turned towards his fiancée.  
"Anya, honey, is there anything you want to tell me about our wedding plans?"  
"Like what?" she asked him innocently.  
"Like why the guy on the other end of the line wants to know if we're going to confirm the booking to get married on June 9th."  
'June 9th? That's three weeks away!" Willow exclaimed incredulously.  
"I just didn't see any point in prolonging the engagement. Besides, if Joyce Summers can get married at short notice, why can't I?"  
"Before we even start to discuss this, I might as well ask if there's any chance of you backing down."  
"Nope."   
"Okay then." Knowing that it was kind of a stupid thing to do, Xander went back to the phone and told the registrar at the other end that he and Anya had decided to confirm the date of their wedding.   
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Anya wrapped her arms joyfully around Xander's neck when he came back to the couch.  
"Now that we're off the subject of Buffy's mom and Giles, I'm kind of in need of some advice." Willow told her friends.  
"About dinner with your parents?" Xander guessed, thinking back to their conversation the previous night.  
"Yuh huh. I still don't know what to do. I'm just really worried that they'll refuse to except it. Knowing my parents, mom will probably insist that I'm going through a phase, and dad will freak out and decide I'm just rebelling."   
In a bid to comfort her, Xander reached across and took hold of Willow's hand. "I know that tonight is going to be really difficult for you, but if anyone can cope with what you're going to have to go through, it's you." He said comfortingly, gazing into his best friend's eyes.  
From opposite ends of the couch, Anya and Tara were feeling slightly awkward at what was going on besides them. For some inexplicable reason, the two women even found themselves feeling what could only be described as jealousy. After all, it was pretty much common knowledge that there had been a time when Willow and Xander had been more than just friends, and that the fact that they were both in relationships with other people at the time hadn't stopped them from getting involved with one another.  
Despite the parts of Anya and Tara that told them that the situation had changed in a way that made it highly unlikely that their lovers would do to them what they had done to Cordelia and Oz back in high school, they still hated the idea of Willow and Xander being alone together for too long, if at all.   
  
Anya wanted to trust Xander, and for the most part she did. But when it came to him and Willow, she couldn't help but remember all those men she had helped scorned women get revenge on over the centuries. Plus there was the fact that it was Xander being unfaithful that brought her to Sunnydale in the first place.  
And as for Tara, whilst her heart was telling her that Willow was gay now and in love with her, her head just would not stop reminding her of her girlfriends history. Willow had been straight for eighteen years, and gay for no more than two. As much as Tara hated to think that way, she couldn't help but wonder if Willow really was just 'going through a phase'.  
  
  
Tara paced the dorm room, picking up the phone to make a call then deciding against it and putting it down.  
"W...W...Willow where a...are you?" She asked the empty room. It was gone midnight, and Willow still wasn't back, even though she had said she wouldn't be any later than eleven.   
Tara knew that it was kind of stupid to be that worried about a grown woman who had just gone to dinner at her parent's house, but it was not as if Sunnydale was the safest place in the world. Quite the opposite in fact.  
After waiting what seemed like five hours but in reality was closer to five minutes, Tara came to the conclusion that Willow probably hadn't even left yet, and that there was no point in worrying all night when a simple phone call could put her mind at rest.  
Finding the piece of paper that Willow had written her parent's telephone number on, Tara picked up the receiver and nervously dialed the number.  
"Rosenberg residence, Ira speaking." Came a man's voice on the other end of the line.  
"H...hello, Mr. Rosenberg? I...I was won...wondering if Willow was st...still there." Tara said anxiously.  
"Willow? She left here at around half ten. Why don't you try her dorm room." Willow's father suggested, trying to be helpful.  
"She was g...going to come by my room before sh...she w...went to her's." Tara was now panicking.   
"Then I take it that you must be Tara? Willow mentioned she was going to see you."  
"S...so she didn't leave a...angry or anything?"  
"Quite the opposite. My wife and I spoke with our daughter and she managed to convince us that her happiness is what really matters, even if being happy means her dating women."  
"That's g...g...good. But, um, shouldn't we be looking for her?"  
Before Ira could answer, there was a loud, fast knock on Tara's door.  
"That could be her now. But just promise to call me if she's still not back in the next hour." Ira requested.  
"Promise." Tara said truthfully before hanging up the phone.   
There was more knocking. As Tara was heading to the door, she heard a familiar voice call out; "Open up! Red needs your help!"  
Recognizing the voice as belonging to Spike, and knowing that 'Red' was his knick-name for Willow, Tara ran the rest of the few meters to get to the door and pulled it open.  
"Come in," Tara invited Spike before the door was even fully open. Spike did as he was told and went over to the bed where he placed the unconscious form of Willow. Now Willow was out of Spike's arms, Tara could see that she was badly wounded, and her clothes were blood stained.   
"I found her lying in the street. I was going to see if she had anything worth stealing on her, but when I saw it was Red I figured I should bring her here." Spike explained as Tara frantically searched through a spell book in an attempt to find a spell that would help the woman she loved.   
"She saved my life once, well, stopped me from staking myself, so I kind of felt that I owed her." Spike added before turning to leave.  
"Thank you." Tara said, looking over her shoulder as Spike left the dorm.   
Remembering her promise to Willow's father, Tara picked the telephone up and pressed redial.  
"Rosen..."   
"M...Mr R...Rosenberg. It's Tara, Willow's gir...gir...girlfriend." She interrupted.  
"What's wrong Tara? You sound upset, and we only just got off the phone. Has Willow turned up yet?"  
"A...erm...friend just br...br...brought her home."  
"Why did she need to be brought home?" It was obvious that Ira was worried from the tone of his voice.  
"She was a...at...she was attacked." 


	7. Part Six

Sorry it's been so long!!! I had exams to do and then I got into writing other fanfics. I will finish this! (eventually!) I promise!  
  
  
  
Part 6  
  
Everyone was silent as they sat in the hospital waiting area, desperately hoping that Willow would pull through. They were all there. Sheila and Ira Rosenberg; Tara; Buffy; Giles; Xander; Joyce...Everyone.   
  
Losing Jonathan had been bad enough, but if Willow died too... the prospect of losing her was more than any of them could bare.  
  
It was almost three in the morning before the doctor came up and asked to speak to Sheila and Ira. The rest of the group watched as Ira, comforting his sobbing wife, followed the doctor to a place just out of earshot.   
  
As they all sat there, trying to work out what their friend's parents were being told, thoughts and feelings  
ran through their heads;  
  
Xander: 'Look God, I know I'm not what you'd call the religious type, but if you let Will pull through, I'll   
be totally grateful. Please don't take her away from me.'  
  
Tara: 'No! No! No! Please be okay. Please. I can't live without you Willow. You have to be okay!'  
  
Buffy: 'When I get my hands on whatever or whoever did this to her I'll make them wish they'd never   
been born. I just face can't losing her. She's my best friend.'  
  
Giles: 'This is killing me, so god only knows what her parents are going through...'   
  
It was at that point that Willow's parents came back over to the others.  
"What did the doctor say?" Asked Joyce, stroking Dawn's hair with one hand and holding Giles' with the   
other.  
"She's got a blood clot on her brain. It's called a sub-dural something-or-other." Sheila said, wiping a   
tear from her eye.  
"Heamatoma. It's a sub-dural heamatoma." Ira told them. "They're going to operate this morning. She   
should be fine." He added, managing a slight smile for the first time since he had heard about what had  
happened to his daughter.   
  
Knowing that Willow would be okay caused everyone to breath a sigh of relief. It was the best news   
they had heard all day.  
  
  
It was one week later, and Buffy, Riley, Xander and Anya were waiting in Buffy and Willow's room for  
her return later that day. Tara was at that very moment on her way to the hospital to pick her up.  
  
"You okay Buff?" Xander asked, looking at his friend with concern.   
"I'm getting there. It's just kind of weird to get used to you know." Buffy replied as the song that was   
playing on the radio ended.   
Despite their doubts about the timing, Joyce and Giles had gone ahead with their wedding plans, and were   
now (along with Dawn) across the Atlantic in England. At first they had wanted to postpone their   
wedding until Willow had recovered, but Willow herself insisted on them not changing their plans. In fact   
she had refused to speak to either of them until they finally agreed to get married on that Saturday as   
planned.  
As strange as it was for Buffy to get used to the idea of not only having a step-father but also of him being Giles, she had to admit that she had never seen her mother more happy.  
The wedding had been small yet beautiful. It had taken place in a near-by registry office, with the reception held in the Summers' house and garden. It had been a great day all round.   
  
Just as Buffy was remembering how beautiful her mom had looked in her tailored cream skirt suit, her  
thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing.  
"Buffy Summers." She said into the receiver. "Hi Tara...What!? Are you sure?"  
Xander, Anya and Riley looked towards Buffy with worried expressions that matched her tone of voice.  
"We'll be right there." Buffy hung the phone up and turned towards her friends and boyfriend.   
"What's happened?" Riley asked his girlfriend with concern.  
"It's Willow. She's in a coma."  
  
  
  
Okay, I know it's kind of short, but that's because I need you guys to give me some ideas of what to write!  
PLEASE! -dramaqueen 


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